The Journey of Suffering with Arjun Reddy

“Man must be sustained in suffering by a hope so high that no conflict with actuality can dash it- so high, indeed, that no fulfillment can satisfy it; a hope reaching beyond this world”

Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist 

In the initial scene of the film, we see Arjun’s grandmother candidly narrates a small incident from Arjun’s childhood with a deep metaphor about the stubborn nature of humans. She mentions about the Sages, Saints, Goddesses, birds and the creatures of the sea being vulnerable to change with respect to time. Then, she questions the human resistance to the course of change and even after accepting that change, there is a bundle of grief. Her simple and resounding rationalization is “Why grieve on incidents that are both unforeseen and predictable”. She further recounts about Arjun’s deep attachment with a doll draped in a white gown. One day, when the doll is lost and Arjun despite lot of attempts is unable to find her, he sleeps in sorrow after constantly asking his grandmother to help him find the doll. Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga has told us a major characteristic of the protagonist, he is stubborn about change, yet accepts it with unhappiness, but does not, under any circumstances leave “Hope”.

Arjun Reddy (Vijay Deverakonda), found in weird conditions on several occasions under the influence of alcohol and drugs, is in desperate need for a physical interaction, and when his quest is rejected from several feasible options, he picks a handful of ice and place it down his jeans, probably an effective but definitely not a subtle way of calming the raging hormones.

Arjun Reddy is going through a drastic transformation in his life, post a major incident, yet he refuses to come out of it and move on in his life, like most of the people around us do, but no, not him, he is Arjun Reddy, a medical prodigy, the one who refuses to bow down to anything which under his judgment and sensibilities is not right.  He is aware about the 690 carcinogenic agents, 4 cancer-causing factors and 48 COPD diseases found in cigarettes, yet he smokes, because it has become his habit.  Nuance is not Arjun’s cup of tea, but a strong trait for his character, that the director paints on the celluloid. Arjun speaks with his heart, no matter what the situation is, he can easily make you fall in love with him, at the same time, the anger issue he goes through, the sudden mood swings might make you despise him. 

The moment he sets his eyes on Preeti (Shalini Pandey), he is sure about his feelings, and does not take too much time to amplify his notion of love. It’s the subtlety of his character through which a better perception of his inner character can be guessed, like for instance, when Preeti’s father cleverly tries to suggest that he should take care of Preeti as an elder brother, he instantly rubbish off the suggestion, citing a reason that he doesn’t have a sister, and won’t be able to connect emotionally with her as a brother, so it’s better she remains a junior for him. You are not sure, what Arjun might do in the next moment; he might unintentionally objectify girls because of their weight and tell you with a straight face that fat chicks are warm and loyal, so friendship with them would last longer. He might just casually barge into girl’s hostel and lay down under Preeti’s lap as if it is the only place, he will find solace.

The film at some point does feel like a documentary on this fascinating character, but yet it never provides a dull moment, the narrative of the relationship between Arjun and Preeti is told through the lens of Arjun, and not Preeti. We do not get into her frame of mind, her perspective of being in love with Arjun Reddy, off using his influence to avoid ragging, her thoughts about strategies of studying various topics of anatomy through diagrams drawn on her skin by Arjun, her tactics of calming the spontaneous anger that might burst out of him at any moment. It seems likely that Arjun act as a catalyst in Preeti’s life, to help her open up a bit and embrace the love he has to offer. Honestly, I am not even bothered about any other point of view, because Arjun has all my attention. However, the impulsive nature of Arjun Reddy is put to a test in a crucial moment in the film, where we are introduced to a cockier version of him, where he will curse, give deadlines, immerse himself in alcohol, find something irrelevant like someone’s hair (Probably Preeti’s) on his bed, do pushups (way to calm himself down).

There is a gradual transformation of Arjun Reddy in both physical and mental aspect. He flaunts a thick beard, which often might be misinterpreted as sign of toxic masculinity (Cumulative of his actions). He is adamant in his actions and explains to his friend that his situation is similar to a girl going through her periods, instead of being supportive, affectionate, and attentive, people around him are neglecting his sorrows. There are numerable scenes, where Arjun show signs of being under the influence of “Dev D” syndrome through the aid of alcohol, drugs, and casual sex. He even joins a group meant for people failed in Love named “Love Failure Support Group” and solves the questions in order for a group conductor to assess Arjun’s pain. Arjun’s grandmother mentions that “Suffering is very personal”, and sums up the situation that Dr. Arjun Reddy has put himself in. Arjun has indeed embarked on a personal journey of suffering with loads and loads of hope, in search of peace of love that he found under the lap of Preeti; there will be moments of heartbreak, loneliness, self-discovery, a moment where we might see a glimpse another shade of who actually Arjun Reddy is.

We are spectators of his journey. He will be judged through our patriarch opinions; anti-feminist judgments, hypocrite nature. We will applaud/notice him for his drinking stamina, his style of inhaling a thin layer of cocaine, his style of smoking, his obsession about riding solo on his Enfield, his idea of hating good-bye, his habit of suddenly doing push-ups while pondering over something, his precision about not using suture on underage people, his notion of being in love with oceans, his strong sense of opinion that he had a benchmark love story, his ability to visually represent his thoughts about a topic from human anatomy, his stubbornness of not agreeing to take money from friends when he is broke, his frank belief that other people are not worthy of love marriage.

Arjun Reddy is an up-close encounter with this fascinating character; let’s witness his personal journey of suffering.